Gamification is a great way to nudge people into certain behaviours. One of the more well-thought out models for gamificationGamification
When considering how to motivate users into certain behaviours, games are an incredible resource. If it can motivate so many people to keep hitting the same buttons over and over for hours, then it... is the Octalysis framework. It identifies eight different motivations (epic meaning, empowerment, social influence, unpredictability, avoidance, scarcity, ownership, and accomplishment) and provides eight or more example game mechanics for each of them. That makes this framework a great source of inspiration when considering different game mechanics.
Figure 1. Octalysis framework (source: Yukai Chou)
The motivations are somewhat ordered in the sense that the four on the right are considered more creative and intrinsic and the left ones are associated more with logic and more extrinsic. Then the top four are more positive drivers (white-hat game mechanics) that make users feel good, whereas the bottom four are black-hat game mechanics are more fear-based. Chou’s recommendation is to stick with white-hat, intrinsically-motivated mechanics when possible.
Furthermore, they use 4 types of players (Bartle’s player types): achievers, explorers, socializers, and killers. And four phases in the game experience: discovery, onboarding, scaffolding, and endgame. Taking these into account, you can develop different gamified experiences for different player types in different phases of their experience.